President Pershing's Great Red Road Trip

What do the Blue Bunny ice cream factory, Dixie College, Steton Technologies, the Utah Center for Rural Health, and Southern Utah University have in common? They’re all great Utah landmarks and all part of the many visits made in the St. George/Cedar City part of President Pershing’s Great Red Road Trip. Organized by Jason Perry in the President’s office, several members of the cabinet headed out for the first leg of the road trip—in a bright white bus wrapped in signature Utah colors and the Great Red Road Trip logo—and we had a ball.

The University of Utah is a flagship institution for the state of Utah. In the health sciences arena, we are the only academic medical center in the state and in the region—with training and clinical responsibilities spanning Utah, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, and parts of Nevada. While much of the state’s population is concentrated in Salt Lake City, there is a lot going on in other parts of Utah. The communities there send students to the University to train, and in turn welcome back our nurses, pharmacists, therapists, physicians, and other health care professionals into their lives. This gives us great opportunities to connect with the broader constituency, to have them feel the same pride in our University that they feel in other state institutions. President Pershing saw this opportunity and is reaching out to communities across the state in a meaningful and fun way—the Great Red Road Trip. It’s been a big success so far, and I’d welcome your thoughts on how we can continue to connect with the communities across the state.

Author: Vivian S. Lee, M.D., Ph.D., M.B.A.

About the Author: Dr. Vivian S. Lee is the Senior Vice President for Health Sciences at the University of Utah, Dean of the University of Utah School of Medicine, and CEO of University of Utah Health Care. Read her full bio here

This blog reserves the right to edit and/or remove comments that are off topic, highly offensive, disclose personal health information, or disclose other protected information about an employee, patient, or business agreement at the University of Utah. Technical questions about the blog should be directed to vickie.king@hsc.utah.edu.